Weymouth wants to regulate bodywork industry

Weymouth's health department has drafted new regulations that would require businesses offering services like Asian bodywork, reflexology and acupressure to be inspected by the department.

Christian Schiavone The Patriot Ledger @CSchiavo_Ledger

Town officials are looking to clamp down on non-massage bodywork businesses that critics say make up an unregulated industry that has allowed prostitution and sex trafficking to creep into the suburbs.

The health department has drafted new regulations that would require businesses offering services like Asian bodywork, reflexology and acupressure to be inspected by the department and have each employee be licensed by the town and submit to a criminal background check.

Health Director Daniel McCormack said the proposal aims to close a loophole created in 2006 when the state took over regulation of massage parlors, which had long fallen under the oversight of local health boards, but exempted 15 types of body therapy.

That makes it impossible for the town to make sure such businesses maintain sanitary facilities, that employees are properly certified or even that they’re not operating out of homes, apartments or motels, McCormack said.

“What we’re really trying to do is just tighten up the industry,” he said. “If they want to open in Weymouth, that’s fine as long as they can comply with these regulations. If not, we’re not going to license them.”

Law enforcement and health officials have long complained that the 2006 change in law allowed some bodywork businesses to become fronts for illicit activity.

Hingham’s health board is considering similar regulations.

“It’s like the wild frontier,” said Hingham Board of Health member Kirk Shilts, referring to the lack of regulation for the non-massage bodywork industry.

Shilts said he hopes the proposal will come up for a vote this spring.

Police stings led to prostitution-related charges against employees working at spas offering unregulated bodywork in Hanover and West Bridgewater last year.

Weymouth police Capt. Richard Fuller said many parlors offering bodywork are legitimate businesses. But the regulatory loophole can create a haven for prostitution and sex trafficking.

“Because it’s so unregulated, it does tend to lend itself to illegal activities like that,” Fuller said. “It’s a huge loophole and this is trying to close it.”

Weymouth’s health department has been working on the regulations for about a year. They’re currently being vetted by attorneys, and McCormack said he hopes to bring them to the health board for a vote within the next several months.

If approved, the regulations would allow the town to suspend or revoke a business’s license or impose fines of up to $500 per offense per day if the business is found in violation. There are roughly 10 businesses in town that would fall under the regulations and the town will work with them to make sure they comply if the regulations are approved, McCormack said.